simulacrum Latin · revision 8112

16 Oct 2026, 15:23 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la similis}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [sɪ.mʊˈɫaː.krũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [si.muˈlaː.krum]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''simulācrum''' ''n'' (genitive simulācrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[simulō]] “to make like” with the instrument suffix [[-crum]], a dissimilated form of ⟨*simulāclom⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a likeness.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first source is Cicero; he dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a likeness, as in Plautus, and in Cicero a picture or image, as ''nōn animōrum simulācra sed corporum'' “likenesses not of minds but of bodies”, and especially a statue of a god.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' uses it of an image in the mind or a dream, and Lucretius of the films that bodies give off.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Cicero it meant a mere show, as ''simulācrum pugnae'' “a sham fight”, and a pale copy of a quality.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein explains that ''imāgō'' resembles its original closely, while ''simulācrum'' is a substitute for it.^(Döderlein 1874)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an idol, a likeness, an image.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin had ''per simulācrum'' “in the likeness of”, as of the Holy Spirit as a dove.^(DMLBS) It was borrowed into French ''simulacre'' and Spanish ''simulacro'', and gave [[en|simulacrum]] in the 1590s.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a likeness.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a statue and of a sham fight.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1590s – English ''simulacrum'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A likeness.^(OLD 2012)
+ # An image; a [[m|en|statue]], especially of a god.^(OLD 2012)
+ # An image in the mind; a [[m|en|phantom]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # A sham, ''simulācrum pugnae'', a mock fight.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A pale copy.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' An [[m|en|idol]].^(Stelten 1995)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[simulō]]
+ * [[imāgō]]
+ * [[en|simulacrum]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Döderlein distinguishes it from [[imāgō]].^(Döderlein 1874)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}